


Into Your Grasp

by vonvoyage



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Biting, Blood and Gore, Bottom Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Interspecies Relationship(s), Knotting, M/M, Mating, Possessive Behavior, Scent Marking, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-10-21 02:16:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17634116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vonvoyage/pseuds/vonvoyage
Summary: Levi wondered if seeing a chimera curled up on a blanket in front of one’s fireplace was something a person could ever get used to.





	1. Trust

The woodlands laid quiet as Levi tracked through the trees. Heading into early autumn, the leaves had slowly started changing colours with the drop in temperature, and he pulled the scarf he wore around his neck further up as one of the cooler winds swept in. The hunting rifle strapped to his back was a reassuring weight as he continued deeper into the woods, his movements careful and quiet, eyes constantly scanning the surroundings after possible prey. He started with the usual routine of checking whether or not anything had been caught in the snares he had set up. The first two yielded no result, but then the third, and then also the fifth, had both caught a rabbit each. After having removed the already dead animals, tying them up and fastening them to his pack so that he could easily carry them, he put the snares back to the way they had been before and continued further into the forest. While the rabbits were certainly going to make great stews, they were still small and he was really looking to take home something bigger. A big stag would do the trick if only he could find one.

It was as his eyes were sweeping over the ground looking for some tracks to follow that they caught the familiar shade of dark red staining the green moss of the forest floor. Instantly on his guard and hunching down, he crept forward, knowing that he was most likely dealing with a wounded or now dead animal, but either way continuing with caution. There was more blood to be found further ahead as well, and then, completely unceremoniously, there laid a dead body on the ground. Levi stopped in his tracks, staring down at it, breathing through his mouth as to not having to inhale the sickening smell of decay. Its eyes were open, unseeing, and the throat had been cut open deep enough that it was almost all the way through to the neck. A man in his early forties if Levi could guess, and he must have been dead for quite a few hours now if the greyish tint to his skin was any indication.

“Fucking disgusting,” he muttered.

Looking around he caught a trail of red leading away, and after following it and the other obvious signs of the disrupted environment - broken branches, overturned rocks, trampled plants, footprints - he stepped out into a clearing and came face to face with an even more gruesome sight than the first. There were three dead bodies this time, all lying in relatively close proximity to each other, and in Levi’s guess, they had most likely died while trying to protect each other. One had its throat cut open the same as the first, even though the wound wasn’t as deep and so he probably wasn’t bestowed the mercy of a quick death, instead having to slowly bleed out as he watched his comrades die along with him. The second notably had his neck broken, the unnatural positioning of the head extremely grotesque, and the third had suffered from having his stomach gutted, the insides spilling out on the ground, and his hand placed in such a way that Levi thought he might have died while trying to push it all back inside. The dried blood from the bodies painted the usual greenery of the ground and the smell again was the most unbearable. He wondered what had brought them this far out into the woods as not many people dared to travel here. Judging by the way the men were dressed and the weapons they bore on their bodies, it hadn’t just been for a leisurely stroll.

Finding yet another blood trail leading away from the scene of the crime, Levi followed with the same vigilance as before, expecting perhaps a fifth body, or possibly the trail of the perpetrator continuing away. But whatever he had been expecting, it certainly wasn’t what he found.

“Oh.” He froze.

The creature lying curled up on the ground had its eyes fixed on him, unblinking and with its body tense and ready for attack.

“Well then, I suppose that answers all of the questions,” Levi stated out loud, feeling slightly taken aback. The reptilian hybrid in front of him was a rare sight, something mostly heard about in stories, and something he sure had never come across before himself. A creature usually residing far away from people, but if crossing paths with any also known for attacking, killing and even feasting on them. The men had most likely been hunting it, and even though they had failed, the injuries that the hybrid looked to had sustained might actually kill it in the long run. One of its hind legs looked to be broken, and there was a deep gash by the side of its stomach that looked just downright nasty. Despite its injuries, it truly was a fascinating sight, nothing of the like that Levi had ever seen, and he couldn’t help but feel intrigued by it.

It appeared to be male, and it had the general shape of a person, Levi supposed, although it was at the same time very distinctly _not_ human. There were scales all over almost the entire body, only in a few places, most notably being the face of the creature, did the scales instead transition over to some type of greyish skin. It also had short hair on its head, brown humanlike hair, an almost bizarre combination, in Levi’s opinion. The eyes were green with pupils in vertical slits, currently with full attention on him, and the mouth that the creature had opened into a silent hiss revealed a set of sharp pointed teeth.

It had elevated spikes on its back that continues down its spine and out onto its tail that was currently sweeping slowly back and forth on the ground in a move reminiscent of that of an aggravated cat. On its front and back legs (or hands and feet, Levi was not fully sure what to view them as) its long claws were on full display in a promise of death to any who dared get to close.

Despite this, Levi took a small step forward and then crouched down low, not deterred by the hissing sound that the creature made in response, instead feeling quite assured that the chimera lying before him was most likely far too weak to do anything such as lounging itself at him, but all the same refraining from getting any closer and making sure to keep his movements slow and steady as to not startle it. He stared at it, trying to decide what the best course of action would be.

“What to do with you,” he pondered aloud. The best option he could think of was to simply put it out of its misery. Injured as severely as it was, the likelihood that it would survive on its own were slim to none.

Yet, as its eyes regarded him cautiously and with intelligence in them that could only be found in magical creatures such as this, he felt somewhat hesitant.

Glancing back over his shoulder he thought about the mess that he had left behind him that he would also inevitably have to deal with, as he couldn’t very well leave the dead men to simply rot.

Returning his eyes to the chimera again, its gaze still fixed on him, he decided that he might as well leave his decision of what to do with the hybrid until after he had dealt with the bodies. And so with that he stood back up again, turning his back to the creature, and trudging back the way which he had come.

**o0o**

As he got back to the clearing he removed his belongings, placing them to the side before setting about the tedious task of first dragging all the bodies into one spot and then collecting the firewood needed. Mostly he tried to collect already fallen branches, but he had to break some off himself too be able to gather a sufficient amount.

He then stacked the bodies on top of each other and covered them best as he could with the firewood, the sun having reached its peak in the sky by the time he had finished, deeming it decent enough.

Returning to his pack he dug his hands in, searching for the packet of matches that he knew were stuffed down there somewhere, and when finally finding them walking back to the makeshift pyre he had created and without further ado lighting the fire. Stepping away from it, he then watched as the flames took hold, and he mused how it would have all gone much quicker if he would just have had oil available to coat the bodies in. At the very least it was not the dry season and so he hadn’t been forced to bury the bodies instead, a thought of which Levi was not particularly amused by.

Going to put the matches back into his pack, he happened to catch the gleam of the vial with its belonging dart lying at the bottom, and he stopped for a moment at the idea that sprung into his head and _considered_. It was not its intended purpose it was true, and it would be a foolhardy thing to do for certain, but still, he considered it.

He asked himself why he would even bother to do such a thing, why he should not just kill it and be done with it, or at the very least let nature take its course on its own, but as the idea had taken root in his head he found that he had a hard time letting it go.

Giving an annoyed sigh to himself he grabbed his things and decided that fuck all, he might as well give it a try.

**o0o**

The chimera didn’t look to have moved much from its position on the ground when he returned to it, and it was as visibly tense as before.

Taking his pack off, he took out the dart with its belonging tube and vial and got closer to the creature, its eyes narrowing in suspicion at his actions.

“You’re not going to like this,” he told it.

Dipping the dart into the liquid in the vial, he then put it in the tube before placing the blowgun against his lips, not hesitating before taking a deep breath and exhaling, letting the dart sail through the air and straight into the greyish skin of the chimera’s neck.

The creature lashed out immediately, claws reaching out towards were Levi stood, a vicious snarl coming from its mouth, but ultimately falling short.

“Told you,” Levi said, watching as the poison started to take told, the chimera’s eyelids becoming heavier and its body starting to slump over. It managed to hang on to awareness for far longer than a normal human would be able to, but in the end, it too succumbed to its effects.

He hadn’t been fully sure that it would, all things considered. It was only supposed to be used on humans, so it was hard to predict how it would perform on a hybrid such as this. Levi could guess with the way it took longer to take effect that the chimera would also be faster to wake up from it. Which meant he would have a limited time to do what he was planning.

Grabbing what he needed he sank down onto his knees next to the now unconscious creature. For just a moment he hesitated to touch it, looking down upon its almost shimmering scales, before pushing aside such thoughts of fascination and with a firm grasp arranged it to lie on its side with its wounds exposed.

“You’re lucky that I carry shit like this around with me,” he told to it as he took the rubbing alcohol and with single-handed focus set to work on treating the wounds.

It immediately became clear that sowing the wound shut would not be possible as the needles couldn't pierce through the thickness of the scaly skin, so Levi settled for binding it and instead got to work on splinting the leg which he feared was broken.

It was just as he was finishing up that he caught the minuscule movement of the chimera’s claws extracting in the corner of his eyes, and upon turning his head, meeting the unwavering gaze of the chimera as it appeared to study him.

Levi stayed complete still for a second as he waited to see if it would attack. When it simply remained with its eyes fixed on him, he stood up with slow and deliberate movements and backed away until a safe distance.

It stayed where it was, and Levi wondered if the creature was intelligent enough to know that he had just helped it or if the poison still prevented it from moving. Either way, he knew it was time for him to leave and let the creature be. Hopefully, it would be smart enough to move further up into the mountains and stay away from any human villages in the future.

As he bent down for his pack to leave, his eyes landed on the rabbits still attached to it, and he paused momentarily.

“Might as well,” he muttered to himself, and before thinking twice about it taking one of the rabbits and threw the body towards the chimera, where it landed a few feet away from its front legs. It jerked at the sudden movement, its eyes flickering down before immediately returning to Levi with even more intensity than before.

“Enjoy,” he said, before turning and actually walking away this time.

**o0o**

He berated his decision to give the rabbit to the chimera several times on his way back. Not only had he wasted his whole day burning bodies and patching up a wild animal responsible for said dead bodies instead of hunting, but now he’d also given away one of the two rabbits that he’d actually caught. As some of his stocks were currently running low it meant he would need to head out hunting tomorrow as well to try and find bigger game to bring down and sell in the village. Not to mention he should probably head back down to let some people know about the men he had burned. They had most likely come from one of the nearby villages and Levi guessed that someone eventually would come looking for them. Their families would want to know what had happened.

It was still early afternoon as he made it home and he quickly set about skinning the rabbit and make himself a nice stew, his stomach empty after so many hours without food. He ate inside before making himself a cup of tea and went to sit on the porch, watching as the sun started to move lower and lower down above the treetops, the last rays of sun colouring the world in gold. He spared a few thoughts to the chimera, wondering if it was going to improve and move on or if it despite his efforts would end up dying in the end. It might be a creature high up in the food chain but there were other predators in the forest, and someone wounded was always someone vulnerable. Either way, it wasn’t his problem anymore, it had been a stupid idea to help it in the first place.

He stayed outside until the world went dark and the night owls started making their presence known, only then heading back into the warmth and comfort of his house.

**o0o**

By dawn the next day Levi was already out in the forest. The traps all turned up empty, but he did manage to find a fresh trail of a deer that he successfully tracked down and shoot. It wasn’t perhaps as big as he would have liked it to be but it would do.

Gutting the dead animal on the spot he then brought it back to the house. Having himself a smaller meal he then put the deer on his wagon and didn’t waste any time in started the long hike down to the village. Seeing as he’d managed to procure the animal early in the day it meant that he would be able to make the trip there and back again before the last light.

With the day bright and calm it was a relatively pleasant walk to make, even with the wagon that he was dragging along with him. By midday, the woods started becoming sparser and shifted into crop fields, and he could spy the first houses on the horizon.

It took some additional time to make it into the actual heart of the village, and the closer he got the more people he met. He knew most of them at least by face and they all greeted him as he travelled past. As he passed one of the more familiar houses a man stepped out on the porch, one of his hands covering his eyes from the sun as he looked down towards Levi.

“It’s been a while now since we’ve seen you last, Levi,” Oluo told him with a smile, “I hope you hadn’t planned to just walk by without even saying hello.”

Before Levi could respond the sound of running footsteps could be heard from inside and then two small figures burst out the door from behind Oluo.

“Levi!” They both shouted as they ran towards him, coming to a halt right in front of him practically brimming with unused energy. He marvelled slightly at how big they had already grown just from the last time he’d seen them.

“Mother says there are trolls living in the forest, is that true? Is it Levi?” It was Abigail who asked, looking at him with her brown eyes wide open. “Because Jan says it’s not true and that he doesn’t believe her!”

“I’ve never seen one!” Her twin brother said vehemently.

He glanced up at Oluo who gave him a shrug and then kneeled down to the children's level.

“It is true,” he told them, and then leaned in towards them as if he was sharing a secret. “The trolls are creatures of the night so it’s only natural that neither of you has seen them, and they live under rocks or deep in mountains and usually hide when humans come stomping around. But of course, you still need to be very careful,” he said, lowering his voice and seeing as the twins almost held their breaths in anticipation. “Because you see, they have a nasty habit of taking young human children if they can get their hands on them.” They both inhaled sharply at that.

“Have you ever seen one?” Jan asked him, his own voice lowered in an almost whisper.

“Only once, and very fleetingly.” He answered, not able to stop the amused smile on his lips as he stood back up.

“What do they look like?” Abigail urged him.

“Okay, Abigail, Jan, that's enough, we need to let Levi pass along now, you can’t keep him here the whole afternoon,” Oluo told them.

“But–” Abigail tried sullenly, but Oluo looked at her sternly and she quieted down, albeit reluctantly.

Levi took hold of the wagon again, prepared to say his goodbye as Oluo spoke up again.

“Hey I almost forgot, you wouldn’t mind bringing some salmon with you the next time you make it down here, would you? It should be an abundance of them now when they’re travelling upstream shouldn't it? And you should join us for dinner too while you’re at it, it’d be nice to catch up.”

“I will, thank you,” he said with a nod. “And I’ll bring some fish down with me,” he added, thinking it would do well to trade it for some new clothes Petra had sewed.

“Have a good day then!” Oluo said, waving as Levi continued on his way, the kids joining in, yelling their goodbyes after him.

**o0o**

It wasn’t far from Oluo and Petra’s house that the village square spread out before him. People were milling around everywhere like always and he was already longing to go back to the peace and quiet of his own home. Making his way over to Hange’s house, he knocked on the door, not at all surprised when it was her assistant who was the one who answered it.

“Levi!” Moblit announced in surprise, “We weren’t expecting you, please come in,”  

“Actually, I have some game with me,” he answered, making a gesture behind him to where the wagon stood.

“Oh, of course! Let’s bring it out back like usual.”

Moblit followed him to the shed where they strung the animal up for Hange to deal with later, before making their way inside.

Usually he would meet with Hange in her study where she spent the most of her time, but instead, Moblit led him into the kitchen where he was greeted not only by her but by the familiar view of a tall and broad figure with blond hair.

“Erwin, I didn’t expect to see you here,” he said, and Erwin turned around in his chair to look at him.

“Yes indeed, it’s been awhile. You look well.”

“And you look like shit,” Levi answered, and Erwin just chuckled.

“You know, I’ve missed you and your humour,” he said.

“I wasn’t joking,” Levi responded with raised eyebrows.

“Now Levi, don’t be rude! He’s been working non-stop since he became the mayor you know.” It was Hange who spoke up from across the table, she had her classes propped on her head like usual and several papers spread out in front of her. Levi wondered if things in her house were ever not a mess.

“Ah, I didn't know. You won the election then? Congratulations,” he told Erwin, who graciously gave a small bow of his head

“Thank you.”

“Explains why you look so tired. People are generally exhausting to deal with.”

“Actually, we have some exciting news to tell you!” Hange looked at him with barely contained enthusiasm, eyes gleaming with exuberance.

“Oh?”

“I wouldn't call it exciting, but news yes,” Erwin interrupted her before she could continue, his tone serious. “We got a letter of warning from one of the other villages. Apparently, they have spotted a chimera, they said it killed and ate one of their cows before it took off again. Wanted us to be aware and keep our eyes open and weapons ready.”

“Can you believe that, Levi?” Hange stood up from her seat as if she had so much bundled up energy she couldn't bear to sit still any longer. “A chimera? If it’s true it will be the first time we’ve seen one around here for over a hundred years. Imagine actually getting a close look at it.” The gleam in her eyes turned almost manic.

Either his silence or something in his face made Erwin look at him searchingly.

“You don’t appear all that surprised by these news.”

He could read the underlying question by his tone.

“Yes, well. I had planned to visit to tell you. I found some dead men up in the forest yesterday. Killed by some type of animal it looked like, there were traces leading away. It seemed to be heading up north towards the mountains.”

He didn’t know why he lied and didn't tell them about the chimera. Perhaps he simply felt stupid about having helped it. Or perhaps he didn’t want to have a group of people go looking for it.

If Erwin was taken aback by his statement he didn't show it, but then again he was a man who often kept his cards close to his chest.

“You think they were hunting it?” He asked.

“Appeared so, they had plenty of weapons with them.”

“Could have been from the village who sent us the warning then, they could have decided to kill it so it was no longer a threat.” He looked thoughtful. “What did you do with the bodies?”

“Burned them. There were four of them and they both looked and smelled foul, couldn’t very well drag them back here. Thought you should probably know, their families will wonder what happened to them.”

“Yes, we’ll send them word.” Erwin nodded at him.

“You’re saying the chimera has been here? Right under our noses? And we missed it?” Hange made a sound of defeat as she rather dramatically sank back down in her chair again.

“Such a missed opportunity!”

“And what had you planned to do with it exactly?” He asked her with raised brows.

“Well, if they’d manage to hunt it down maybe I’d have gotten the chance to dissect it! Of course, the optimal option would be to study it alive but I’ll take what I can get.”

“There really is something disturbed in your head, four eyes,” he told her drily.

“Rude!” She said, pointing her finger at him.

Levi simply rolled his eyes in response. He thought that the chimera should count itself lucky that it was him and not Hange that had found it lying in the forest practically defenceless.

“You should probably still be watchful, Levi. The chimera might yet be in the area. Also, after the family finds out you should maybe ready yourself for the possibility that they’ll head up to where you burned them,” Erwin said, meaning in his eyes that sad “ _be nice”_.

“Tch, as long as they don’t bother me too much.” Though he couldn’t stop his nose from wrinkling slightly in disgust at the thought of the forest being overrun by people.

“You should let us know if you notice any signs of the chimera, people in the village will need to be told if that’s the case.”

“I’ll keep you in the know,” he answered with a nod.

**o0o**

It was early evening when he returned home. The sky had turned a combination of orange and purple by then, and he was longing for some tea in front of the fireplace. As he neared his house, however, he immediately got the creeping sensation of being watched. Putting down the wagon, he looked around, hand inching down to the knife kept at his belt.

A dark shape moving on his porch made him still, and when he realized what it was he straightened with the shock of it.

“What the hell.”

The chimera also stopped in its track at the sound of his voice, eyes trained on him. After a few seconds of standstill, it slowly started to move, creeping down the steps down onto the grass. Levi noticed how awkward and stilted it was moving with its leg still splinted, but it hadn’t appeared to try and break free of it.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said to it, even though such a statement was utterly useless, all things considered.

It stilled again at his voice, before slowly continuing moving to the side, appearing to be heading toward the treeline. As Levi realised it probably wouldn’t attempt any type of attack, he started to make his way over to his house with measured steps, eyes constantly tracking the movement of the chimera. The creature seemingly doing the same to him.

When he made it up the steps to his front door he stopped before opening the door. The chimera had also stopped again, only a few metres to the side of his house. Their eyes held for a few seconds before Levi decided that the day had already been too long to deal with any more shit and so he headed inside.

He put the lock in place after himself, looking out of the window to see the chimera still sitting in the same place as before. Shaking his head to himself he decided not to give it anymore though for the evening, most likely it would continue on its way during the night either way.


	2. Healing

He was proven wrong the next morning as he cautiously opened the front door and was greeted with the sight of the chimera curled up in the corner of his porch. It appeared to wake up from the sound of the door and lifted its head to look at him.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he grumbled. At this point he was more annoyed than anything. He really shouldn’t have given it that damn rabbit.

 “You’re really not leaving, are you?” He asked it and its complete lack of response seemed to be answer enough.

“Fucking fantastic.” He closed the door a bit harder than necessary behind him when he went back inside to prepare himself some breakfast to eat. The best thing he could do was probably to just kill the damn thing, or at least make it think that he would to scare it away, but after saving it he honestly didn’t feel as if he had the heart to. What a fucking situation he had created for himself. There was no possibility of this ending well, Levi could already tell.

**o0o**

The chimera hadn’t magically disappeared as he went back outside later. He side-eyed it as he went to do his usual routine of checking the traps in the forest. It didn’t attempt to follow him, and he figured that it was staying put to rest and recover from its wounds. Levi did spare a thought to wonder as to why it felt that his house was a safe place to do so at. Had he really earned so much trust from it just from helping it with its wounds?

The traps yielded one rabbit and one badger, which was an unusual catch but not an altogether bad one. As he returned he saw how the chimera eyed the animals he carried with him, but otherwise made no move to take them.

“I’m not planning to feed you again, I hope you realise. If that’s why you’re here you might as well leave.” Still no response. Go figure.

He spent the rest of the morning preparing the meat by salting it and putting it down to be stored in the cellar, deciding that all he could really do was attempt to ignore the chimera if it wasn’t going away. The creature in question seemed to spend most of its time sleeping, after a while barely even stirring at the sound of Levi moving about.

The afternoon he dedicated to cleaning and it kept his mind occupied but by the afternoon he had dusted every available surface and was forced to face the reality of the chimera still lying on his front porch.

Making himself a bowl of potato soup he went and sat down outside. After some time the chimera stirred from its slumber and opened its eyes to observe him as he ate.

“You know, eventually the people from that village that the men you killed were from are going to come here, and they’ll be wanting to kill you. By simply lying here you’re not exactly making the job hard for them.” His statement was met with a blank stare.

“But you don’t understand what I’m saying so I don’t know why I’m bothering explaining this to you.” He gave a sigh to himself.

The wind could be heard sweeping through the trees. A couple of birds passed in the sky above and somewhere far in the distance the sound of a wolf howling made the chimera turn his head. Levi regarded it again, the way the hair on its head just barely swept down over its green eyes. Reptile eyes.

“One has to wonder how large part of you is actually human,” he told it and it turned back to look at him, head cocked to the side.

“I mean no one actually knows where you creatures come from. Are you born from chimera parents, or is one of them a creature and one fully human? Or have you simply been cursed somehow? There are supposedly cursed items after all.”

The chimera didn’t offer any answer to his reflections, it just laid its head back down and closed its eyes, as if soothed by the sound of Levi’s voice. A strange through.

He returned inside shortly thereafter, stopping himself from doing something as stupid as inviting the chimera into the warmth with him.

**o0o**

Levi headed out to hunt again the day after, and when he got back with the freshly killed dear and brought it to into the shed to hang up, he couldn’t help himself from cutting of one of its hind legs and bringing it back out with him. The chimera looked at him curiously as he stopped just below the steps leading up to the porch.

“Fuck it,” he said beneath his breath as he threw the dear leg to the side. Its eyes were alert as they followed the hind leg to where it landed in the grass and then snapped back to Levi’s.

“Well, fucking eat it then,” he told it, backing away from the steps and gesturing to the meat. “Don’t expect me to let you eat it on the porch and get blood everywhere, you little shit.”

It hesitated for a few seconds before slowly getting up and moving down the steps, almost within reaching distance. Even when it turned its back it kept looking over its shoulder at him. Not in a way that seemed distrusting but perhaps more so as if unsure if it really was okay for it to approach the piece of meat.

“This cannot be normal for chimeras,” Levi said, more so to himself than the chimera in question.

It dug in immediately, and it fed in a way where it was clear it had been very hungry. As it finished it turned to him, an actual smile on its lips. The friendly expression was perhaps slightly ruined by the blood still smeared around its mouth and the sharp teeth visible, but Levi understood its sentiment just as well. He felt rocked to the core by it.

Later, as he went back inside he didn’t even attempt to hinder the chimera from following on his heels.

**o0o**

Levi wondered if seeing a chimera curled up on a blanket in front of one’s fireplace was something a person could ever get used to.

When it had first made its way inside it had started by creeping around the house inspecting all of the rooms, smelling and touching certain things, before grabbing a blanket from Levi’s bed and dragging it with it to curl up on by the fire. It had its face nuzzled down into one part of the blanket and currently appeared to be sleeping peacefully.

He neared it slowly, sinking down on his knees in front of it and it stirred at his closeness, eyes fluttering open to gaze up at him. Levi made his movements obvious as to not surprise it when he reached down to check on the binding around the chimera’s stomach. Its body tensed but it stayed where it was patiently as Levi unwrapped the bandage to check on the wound. To his surprise, it looked to already be mostly healed, and he traced his fingers around the edge of it.

“Guess that means you have some superior healing abilities then,” he said. He didn’t want to remove the splinting of the leg yet as he doubted that it had fully healed and would still need to be kept immobilised, but he did clean the wound on the stomach and rebandaged it. The chimera allowed him to work undisturbed, only displaying slight discomfort at the ordeal.

“I should probably stop thinking of you as only an it, if you’re actually staying in my house,” he mused as he finished up his work. He looked at the creature with thoughtful eyes and then lifted his hand to let his fingers run through the chimera’s hair.

“You’re a male, I’m pretty sure,” he said, somewhat astonished at how the brown strands of hair in his hand really felt no different from that of any other human’s hair.

Then the chimera shifted and leaned into his touch, a sound coming from its throat that sounded suspiciously like a purr and Levi yanked his hand back in surprise.

It appeared almost disgruntled at Levi’s decision to stop and pushed its head down towards his hand again as if asking him to continue and he awkwardly raised it to bury it in the brown head of hair. The sound of what could only be explained as purring started up again and Levi looked at the chimera with wonder. He let his hand travel down the upper back and then brought it back up and repeated the motion. The scales were hard to the touch but when he dragged his hand over the neck and side of the face where they transitioned into the more greyish skin, it was as smooth as any human’s. The chimera seemed to enjoy the attention, eyes closed in contentment and the vibration from the purring resonating through Levi’s hand.

As he eventually stopped with his petting, letting his hand fall back at his side, the chimera looked back up at him and they simply gazed at each other for a few seconds. Then the chimera did something that made his eye widen in shock. It spoke.

“Eren.” Its voice was barely distinguishable, gravelly and rough. Levi jerked back at the sound of it.

“Eren,” it repeated, speaking again, somewhat more clearly this time, and looking at him as if to make sure Levi actually heard.

“Eren?” He repeated back. “Is that your name? Can you speak?”

It didn’t answer apart from buffing him with its head again.

“Can you say anything else? Can you understand me?” He tried to urge the chimera, but it didn’t attempt to speak again.

“Okay, Eren. That’s good, I’ll have something to call you now then at least,” he said, his head a mess of thoughts. Where all chimeras capable of speech or was it only this one? Who had given him the name? For the first time, Levi considered the possibility of this chimera having been previously owned by someone, tamed perhaps. Then again, he could admit to himself that he knew close to zero about chimeras in general and had no references as to what was normal for the hybrid species.

Then he noticed that the chimera was regarding him almost expectantly and he realised with wonder that it most likely wanted him to say his own name in return.

“Name’s Levi” he said, putting his hand on his own chest to clarify. He still couldn’t be fully sure that the creature actually understood, but then it surprised him by speaking again, appearing to try and repeat his name. It took a few tries until he got it right. When it eventually succeeded it looked at him in satisfaction. Then Eren apparently considered himself done for the evening because he settled back down on the blanket, eyes closing and body curling into itself.

As Levi too settled in for bed that night he found himself dreaming of blood, claws and the sound of someone softly saying his name.

**o0o**

The previous evening felt almost unreal as morning came. Eren made no further effort to speak, nor did he repeat either his or Levi’s name and Levi had to come to the conclusion that although this creature perhaps knew and understood certain words he couldn’t actually speak in the full sense of the word.

However, although Eren didn’t start to magically speak after that evening, he did start to behave differently. Affectionate was the only word Levi would use to describe it. He began to brush up against Levi as he passed him, buffing his head against Levi’s legs and curling up close to his side as he sat down to eat. It was a bit like having a cat, all in all, and he couldn’t say that he altogether disliked it.

Most of the time though, Eren just continued to rest and heal from his injuries. As Levi actually started to feed him regularly, the chimera also noticeably quickly improved. A week after he had arrived at the house, Levi removed the bandage on his stomach and the day after that he also removed the leg splint, which appeared to have healed up completely by then. However, even though the chimera now had to be practically back to full strength, it didn’t leave. Levi who had thought to himself that perhaps the creature had only taken up room at his house to have a safe place to heal up after he had helped it and apparently earned its trust, felt somewhat unsure on what to do now. He had himself only planned to let it stay until it was better before sending it on its way, but as it didn’t seem to want to leave on its own, he supposed that he would have to force it.

Leading Eren outside he walked towards the treeline before turning to face the creature.

“Okay, listen up, I know you can understand me to at least some extent,” he started, and Eren cocked his head to the side in response, “You need to leave. Head into the mountains or wherever the fuck that is far away from here and nowhere close to humans, you get that?” He pointed away to show clearly what he meant.

Eren simply stared back at him with a blank face.

“Just go do whatever the fuck it is you chimera normally do,” he told Eren, but he still didn’t seem to want to move and so Levi took a step forward, forcing the chimera to back away a step in turn and it bared its teeth at him in a show of aggression.

“No,” Eren growled, but even though he reacted to the use of words Levi still held firm and only raised his hand to point again.

“Leave.” He said sternly.

He could see Eren’s tail moving back and forth on the ground in his peripheral vision as they stared at each other. Then the chimera gave a low hiss and suddenly turned, its tail hitting Levi’s leg as it with quick movements disappeared in between the trees. It was the first time Levi had actually observed it moving in anything close to its full speed and it looked exactly like the predator that it was while doing it.

**o0o**

He didn’t exactly feel guilty about sending Eren away, but he did find himself glancing out towards the woods occasionally as he finished chores during the day. Shaking his head, he continued chopping firewood and tried to just banish all thoughts of the creature. Even if it wasn’t for the possible threat hanging over the chimera’s head, he couldn’t very well have kept it as a pet.

As he raised the axe over his head again, the sound of voices in the near distance made him stop before bringing it back down. He stayed where he was, with the axe in hand, as the group of people walked into the clearing around his house. Five men, strangers, all of them well built and all of them caring weapons. There wasn’t much doubt surrounding what they were doing here.

Wiping the sweat of his brows, he put the axe down and walked to meet them.

“Erwin must have sent you,” he greeted them with.

“That’s right, he said you were the one who found our men.” It was the biggest of them who had spoken. His dark hair was long and tied back behind his head and his hand rested relaxed on the holster of his machete. With his posture and the way he took a step forward in front of the others, Levi would have to assume he was the leader of the group.

“Yeah, that was me. Found them in the forest while I was out hunting.”

“And all of them dead?” The man asked.

“Didn’t Erwin already give you all the details?” He couldn’t help his dry tone when he replied.

“He did, just wanted to hear it from you too.” He looked down at Levi with a body language clearly intended to intimidate. It was something he was used to being on the receiving end of. Men often considered themselves better than him simply because of their height and size, sometimes even only unconsciously. The plight of being short.

“They were all dead when I found them.” He told them. “Had been for quite a few hours too.”

“And you’re sure it was that monster who did it?” It was one of the other men who spoke up, his tone bitter.

“Can’t be sure, but they were torn up pretty good so it makes sense if they were hunting the chimera.”

The man who’d asked swore underneath his breath.

“They were good hunters, they should have been able to take that thing,” he said through clenched teeth, and Levi could hear the pain bleeding through his voice.

“Sometimes it doesn’t matter how good you are,” Levi told him. There wasn’t much else he could offer in solace. “I’ll take you to where I burned their bodies.”

“Please do,” the leader said with a nod.

**o0o**

They offered up their names as they walked. The leader presented himself as Heiner, the other man who’d spoken was Elmar, and the three others Colter, Fritz and Bernd, whereof Colter and Fritz apparently brothers. The group seemed close in a way Levi assumed meant that they had all likely grown up together.

They spoke of their village and how they’d sent out a hunting party for the chimera after it had been decided it would be too dangerous to let it roam free so close by. Apparently, they hadn’t yet given up that idea.

“They were good fighters, and if that thing is vicious enough to kill them and still survive, it needs to be put down for the safety of the people,” Heiner said, voice determined.

“And how do you plan to be able to do that which those men already failed to do?” Levi asked him. Heiner who had been walking beside him stopped and Levi met his narrowed eyes as he came to a halt as well.

“You should speak more carefully,” he told Levi.

“I meant no offence,” he assured, “I only question how smart of a decision it is to go after this thing. For all anyone of us knows it will be long gone by now anyway.”

“We won’t know until we try to find it,” Heiner responded. “And we’ll be ready for it. This isn’t the first dangerous thing we’ve had to kill.”

Levi didn’t ask anything further and they resumed their trek through the woods in silence, a tension now hanging over them.

When they arrived at the clearing, Levi remained a respectful distance away to allow the men space to grieve for their dead in peace. To his surprise, one of the men, Colter, stayed behind with him. They both watched as the others in the group approached the pile that was left from the pyre, one of them falling to his knees and seemingly offering prayer.

“Not joining them?”

“I’ve already said my goodbyes,” Colter replied. “Prayer won’t bring them back. But we’ll make sure to try and avenge their deaths.”

Levi glanced at him from the side.

“I have to say that I’d been expecting a group from your village to arrive earlier, it has to have been almost a week since you got word about it from Erwin.”

At this, the man’s face turned sour.

“Indeed. The village was in disagreement over what to do after we hear. Many of them thought like you, that we should simply let the monster be. Too dangerous they said,” he nearly spit out the last words in apparent disgust but then appeared to collect himself. “But we put it to a vote and decided that we would head after it, although of course by now we’ll have lost much time.”

He paused before turning to Levi fully.

“We were told there had been traces of that thing leading away in the direction of the mountains.”

“That’s right, it looked like it at least. It rained quite heavily a couple of days ago so the traces will most likely all be gone by now I’m guessing, but I’ll show you where they were,” Levi said with a nod, grateful for the rain and the fact that the original traces probably would no longer be distinguishable. There were, however, of course the risk that Eren actually had headed into the mountains, but there wasn’t much he could do if that was the case.

As their group eventually all turned to Levi again, he pretended to show them where there had been blood traces, leading them into the vegetation a bit before stopping, telling them that was as far as he’d tracked it before going back for the bodies. They thanked him and he watched them leave with resolve in their gazes.

That little shit better have gotten away for all the time he’d put into helping him, Levi thought to himself.

**o0o**

The sky had darkened when he returned home and there was a strong sense of déjà vu as he was met by the sight of Eren, much the same as he had been that evening when he’d returned from the village.

“Shit.” Levi was momentarily stopped in his tracks, staring at the chimera hunched over a large stag with gigantic antlers lying bloody beneath it. Then he felt his irritation swirling to life.

“You dumb fucker,” he snapped at Eren as he walked towards him. “Do you have a death wish? I told you to get the hell away from here.”

The chimera didn’t seem deterred by his tone, instead making some type of exciting chirping sound as Levi got nearer, and then backing away from the stag and lowering his head, causing Levi to pause. It was almost as if Eren was presenting the stag to him.

“Right.” He shook his head. “Get inside.” Levi turned to lead the way but stopped again at the sound Eren whining and noticed him still sitting by the stag, now using his hands to push it towards him.

“Levi,” he said, voice firm. “For you.”

With a sigh of exasperation, he went back to the dead animal.

“Okay, I get it, I’ll take the damn deer.” He said and grabbed it by the hind leg, dragging it away into the shed, Eren now trailing behind him, making another one of those chirping noises.

When they got inside the house he locked the door behind them and looked down at the chimera who was practically clawing at his leg

“Stop that,” he said sharply, pushing past and sinking down into the couch with a sigh. It followed him, nearly crawling into his lap as it dragged its neck against his, all while making a quiet growling sound. Levi had to fight the instinct to recoil at the nearness of those sharp teeth.

“You’re a menace,” he told Eren tiredly yet didn’t attempt to push him away.

“You don’t even realise how lucky you are to have missed those men.”

Allowing his hand settle into the brown head of hair the familiar sound of purring could be heard as Eren settled down more comfortably in his lap, one of his hands hanging down and dragging rhythmically over Levi’s leg.

He’d have to make Eren stay inside for the foreseeable future now, until he knew those men were no longer in the area. What a mess.

As he left Eren out in the living room area to go to bed later in the evening, he could feel all the tension collected in his body. Lying in bed, he let his hand inch down and started to stroke himself slowly. His breathing turned uneven as he quickened his movements, using the precum to ease the way. He was nearing the edge of release as someone else joined him on the bed, making him open his eyes. There was a prick of claws at his ankle through the quilt followed by a low growling and Levi looked down and meet the glowing eyes of Eren in the dark. The chimera was looking at him intensely as it with one hand started to remove the quilt covering him and Levi felt too frozen in the moment to try and stop it.

Eren stared down at his exposed body for a moment before lowering his head, inhaling right at Levi’s crotch, before once again growling and he could feel the exposed teeth of it against the sensitive area of his inner thigh. Yet, even as his heart beat faster he didn’t feel any fear.

A gasp left him at the sudden feel of a tongue dragging up his cock and his hand balled up at his side as he cursed underneath his breath.

Another few swipes of the tongue and Levi could feel himself practically panting, lifting his hip in automatic response to the pleasure. Eren’s claws which held him down by the hip embedded themselves into his skin but the pain of it only heightened his senses.

His climax came sudden under the continued onslaught and for a moment he was so lost in the sensation that he almost didn’t register the feel of teeth clamping down on the inside of his thigh.

Dully he was aware of Eren licking the wound he had created before the chimera started to crawl up along his body, nuzzling its head underneath his chin and nosing at his neck.

“Yeah, yeah.” He said, patting Eren on the head.

When he felt something slick brush up against his leg, however, it didn’t take a genius to figure out what it was and he started to push Eren away from him.

“That’s enough,” he told him, but Eren didn’t seem to take very kindly to his refusal and teeth shut threateningly around his neck, accompanied by a savage growl as he seemingly tried to get his own cock nestled in between Levi’s legs.

Anger flared to life and he punched into the chimera’s side, and when its teeth released him in shock he rolled them around. He closed his hand over its throat and bared his teeth at it in a display of aggression he knew that it would understand.

“I said that’s enough,” he hissed and the chimera stared wide-eyed back at him, a whine coming from his throat as he applied extra pressure. He held it for an extra few seconds to make a point before eventually releasing.

It scrambled back to its feet, still whining and now also licking him in his face as if in apology.

“Disgusting, stop that,” he said, pushing Eren away with a grimace and the chimera relented reluctantly.

“I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to,” Eren’s voice was quiet but urgent with a need to be understood.

Levi stared at him in silence, some undefined emotion burning in his chest brought forth by the softness in those eyes.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” he said.

Looking down, he noticed in dismay that there was blood on the sheets. Not having the energy to change them he instead sank back down, dragging the quilt around him again as he exhaled and closed his eyes.

He could feel the chimera essentially hovering at his side, and after a few minutes he took pity on him and patted at the bed.

“Lie down then. You’re already here so might as well,” he muttered.

After a few seconds, he could feel the weight of Eren as he settled down and sprawled out next to him and he listened to the even breathing of the chimera as he fell to sleep.

 


	3. Want

He woke to the feeling of a weight on his stomach. Looking down, he was met by a pair of green eyes staring back at him. Feeling uneasy at their unwavering focus, Levi leaned his head back again to stare up into the ceiling instead.

Eren on the other hand, seemingly not wanting to be ignored, crawled up along his body to nuzzle his head in underneath his chin. He felt the drag of Eren’s nose as he sniffed up and down his throat before the chimera started dragging his own against it. Levi vaguely recognised the behaviour as scent marking.

“You’ve been doing that a lot,” he mused, mostly to himself.

“Instincts,” Eren murmured in explanation against his skin, before licking a hot stripe up towards his jaw where he started to nibble.

“I told you to stop it with the licking, it’s gross,” Levi complained as he rolled to the side and away from Eren’s warm mouth. Getting up, he decided that the first order of business of the day would be to change the bloody sheets and then take a bath to wash away the remnants of the night before.

After removing the dirty sheets he put them on the floor for while he made the bed, but almost immediately the chimera took up residence among them and didn’t appear to want to move as Levi went to take them again. Sighing, the looked down at Eren as he burrowed down into the fabric. He decided to allow Eren to keep them for while he bathed himself, but then he would have to take them so he could wash them, even if apparently Eren didn’t mind sleeping in them.

The water was cool against his skin as he scrubbed it clean. There was both dried up spunk and blood left, although it seemed Eren had probably licked the worst of it away. Leaning back to rest his head against the edge and relaxing for a few minutes, Levi pondered if perhaps it was bad of him to not discourage such behaviour from the chimera. Eren had grown quite attached to him, that much was obvious. If his theory about him being tamed and owned by someone previously was true, perhaps he simply saw him as a new owner. He grimaced at the idea of the chimera being quite as close to his previous owner as he appeared to want to be with Levi. Better not to think about it, really. Either way, Levi doubted he would ever be able to find answers to any of his questions. At least not unless Eren suddenly started fully conversing with him, which was unlikely to happen.

He allowed himself to stay in the bath for a while longer before getting out. After dressing, he forced Eren to relinquish the dirty sheets which he begrudgingly obliged to do, taking to following Levi around instead. It felt a bit like having a second shadow and Levi had to stop himself from almost tripping over him several times. Eren had been affectionate before that was true, but now it felt like another type of closeness, something borderline possessive about the chimera’s behaviour. Perhaps because he noticed not only how close Eren was throughout the day, but also how closely he monitored him. As if simply waiting for an opportunity, and Levi was pretty sure he knew exactly what it was that the chimera wanted to do if it got it.

**o0o**

He let Eren follow him as he went outside to finish chopping the firewood that he still had left from the previous day, only because he knew that the chimera would have to do its business somewhere and he wasn’t letting him shit inside the house. Still, after he had come back from a quick excursion into the woods, Levi ushered Eren back into the house, despite the protesting whining that he made at being separated. The chances of the men being back this soon were minimal but it was still a risk and so probably best to limit any time spent outside.  

It was another fine day out, the weather calm and still relatively pleasant in temperature. Soon autumn would swipe in over the land for real and by then it would be several months until spring came back with its warmth and new life. The conditions were perfect to go fishing, yet Levi hesitated at the thought of leaving Eren behind on his own. He knew it couldn’t be helped though, it wasn’t as if he could limit himself to staying inside the house as well for however long. If nothing else, he’d promised Oluo to bring back some salmon for him, and he’d need to head into the village either way at some point.

Deciding to head to the river, he went and grabbed his fishing equipment from the shed. Yet, as he started to make his way away, he was startled by the sound of aggressive growling coming from inside the house. The growl was followed by scratching and heavy thumps against the door.

“What the hell is it now then,” Levi grumbled as he made his way back. When he got closer, however, the ruckus died down.

As he opened the door Eren didn’t wait before practically launching himself outside and next to Levi, basically curling itself around him and emitting a thrumming sound from deep in its throat.

The message was all very clear.

“Fine,” he said with a sigh, “You get to come, but only for today and only because there’s a very low chance of those men being close by.”

“I’ll protect you,” Eren said simply and Levi stepped back at the statement.

“It’s not me that needs protecting, you know,” he said as he stared at Eren with something akin to astonishment.

Eren only answered by buffing him with his head.

**o0o**

Following him through the woods, Eren moved with a fluidity that spoke of his talents in stalking and hunting prey. It still puzzled Levi how such a dangerous creature could act as friendly as a common house dog. Or perhaps not the idea that Eren _couldn’t_ act friendly, but more so why he would possibly want to.

Arriving at the riverbank, Levi set up while Eren went about exploring the surroundings. He kept a constant eye on the chimera but he didn’t venture very far and by the time Levi had lowered the hook of the fishing rod into the water, Eren was back by his side.

It was peaceful after that, both of them sitting in silence, Eren’s body pressed against him in total relaxation.

As the line started twitching, Levi stood up to pull the fish out of the water. The salmon stuck on the hook dangled in front of him and looking down he saw Eren regard it curiously. “That’s not for you,” he said as he held it out of reach.

Eren looked up at him for a moment before redirecting his gaze to the river. Before Levi could then think to stop him, he jumped in.

“Oi!” He exclaimed. “What are doing, you’re going to scare the fish, you shit!”

Eren took no notice of his shouting, splashing around as he looked to be trying to catch the fish which had scattered away from him. In a lightning quick movement, he struck his hand down into the water and as he raised it again one of the fish was pierced straight through with his claws.

He held it out towards Levi with a proud expression, but as he started making his way back over to land he appeared to slip and with a stunned look he disappeared under the surface. He popped back up almost immediately, shaking his wet hair and looking disgruntled as he noticed that the fish was now gone.

Levi who’d observed the whole spectacle couldn’t stop himself from huffing out a laugh.

**o0o**

As evening drew near, Levi made food for them both to eat on the blankets laid out in front of the fireplace. The fish was grilled and served with bread and he placed the plate in front of Eren with some amount of curiosity. He hadn’t even tried to give him anything other than raw meat before simply because he’d been unsure if Eren really ate anything else, but seeing as he was part human Levi would presume it wouldn’t exactly harm him.

Eren looked down at the plate and then back at him.

“Mine?” He asked and Levi nodded.

“Only if want it.”

Eren gripped the fish between his fingers and brought it up to his mouth before practically swallowed it in one bite. Levi snorted at him.

Taking a bite from his own salmon, he watched as Eren then proceeded to eat the slice of bread as well. As he did, a look of mild distaste painted his features.

“Not a fan of bread then perhaps?” Levi asked with a smile.

“Meat better,” he replied and Levi simply regarded him for a while in silence as he continued eating his own food.

“You’ve been talking more and more since you came here,” he said finally.

Eren frowned and turned his face away.

“Remember more,” he answered.

“You’re remembering how to talk?” He asked in clarification. If that was the case than he had at least at some point in his life talked regularly. The theory about Eren having lived with someone else before seemed more and more likely. Levi wondered what had happened to have caused him to end up in the wild on his own.

“Some.” Eren frowned again, and Levi observed how his claws had come out and decided to stop pushing.

“You don’t need to talk.” He said simply. “Don’t worry about it.”

Eren looked at him and gradually Levi noticed how he relaxed again before settling down on the blanket. They spent the rest of the meal in silence.

**o0o**

Levi felt the change in atmosphere as night came and he readied himself for bed. Eren followed him quietly but with purpose and as Levi laid down he climbed up onto the bed after him. Perhaps it was the darkness that lowered his inhibitions and allowed Eren closer, or perhaps he’d known the whole time that the day would inevitably lead to this.

“Levi,” Eren said, and even though it was just one word, only his name, it still held many unspoken things behind it.

His heartbeat was steady as he reached for the oil hidden in his bedside drawer and as he did he could feel Eren’s eyes following his every move. He didn’t reach out to touch, but as Levi looked over at him again, it was clearly written in his eyes that he wanted to.

“Can’t believe I’m doing this,” he muttered to himself as he coated his fingers in the oil before slowly moving them down to rest just at his opening. He didn’t miss the low growling that started up as he did, yet Eren still remained where he was, standing hunched at his side. Waiting for permission it seemed.

He exhaled as he let the first finger enter his body. It had been quite some time since he’d last been with someone and so he allowed himself time to fully relax into it before adding another one. From the corner of his eyes, he could see how Eren’s entire focus was narrowed down to those two fingers pushing in and out of him, and the weight of those eyes made warmth pool in the pit of his stomach. He let his other hand wrap around his length, stroking himself to let the pleasure relax his body even more. As he did, the growling at his side got even deeper and the deep burning that had gathered in his stomach spread throughout his body.

Looking over, he met the intensity of Eren’s eyes as he let a third finger join the other two. The stretch of it burned slightly but Levi hardly noticed over the pounding of his heart as he felt pinned to the spot by those green eyes. 

Eren’s whole body was tense as a bowstring, and as Levi let his eyes trail down his body he saw with fascination as the scales around Eren’s groin had parted to allow his arousal to hang free. It looked a lot like any other human cock if one disregarded the large bulge at the base of it, which Levi really couldn’t help staring at. He eyed it as he continued to stretch himself out and he was so consumed with his own pleasure that he was barely aware of the way he started to moan as he neared the edge of release. It was only as Eren shocked him out of the haze by suddenly pushing away his hands, grabbing them in his own and pinning them down hard at his side.

“No. No more,” he said roughly, eyes wild as they looked down into his own. Done waiting apparently.

“Okay,” Levi said, trying to calm down his almost panting breaths. “Okay.”

He tried to move his hands but Eren only held them down more firmly at his apparent resistance, teeth at clear display as he growled again.

“No. You stay.”

“I am, I’m just going to turn around,” Levi reassured him as he forced his whole body to relax and go slack underneath Eren’s body pressing down on him. It seemed to do the trick as that almost feral look in those green eyes faded slightly and the hands pressing him down eased up.

Eren was breathing heavily as he stared down at him.

“I can’t – I need –” He interrupted himself with an almost wounded sound as Levi felt his hands tighten around him once again.

“It’s okay,” Levi told him. “Just let me go for a quick second and I’ll turn around for you.”

When Eren failed to respond and he started to feel the prickle of claws he tried again.

“I’m not going to go anywhere just because you let go of me for one second,” he said.

Eren’s eyes borrowed down into his for a second before he slowly pried his fingers away from Levi and allowed him space to move. He turned around slowly since he wasn’t sure if any movement too fast wouldn’t trigger some type of response from Eren.

Hands were back on him again practically the same moment that he propped himself up on his elbows and he huffed as suddenly almost Eren’s entire bodyweight pressed down on him.

He then felt teeth close around his neck, holding him threateningly in place as Eren moved into position behind him. As he felt the cock drag and press against his behind the teeth dug further into his skin and he could feel as some blood trickled down his throat. With some effort he managed to get one of his hands to reach down, grabbing a hold of Eren’s stiff arousal and leading it right.

They both gasped as it slid in in one simply thrust and the teeth holding him down bit down for real. The pain of it made his body tense up but he didn’t attempt to push Eren away, instead almost enjoying the sensation as adrenaline shot through his veins.

He felt every drag of the stiffness inside of him as Eren barely allowed any space between their bodies as he thrust into him.

When the jaw suddenly released him he couldn’t help moaning, and as they locked back down again on the other side just as savagely, a punched out sound escaped him.

“Fuck,” he gasped, hands balling up into fists at his side.

When Eren then accidentally brushed up against that one spot inside of him it tore another moan from this throat. Above him, Eren seemed to enjoy the sound of him as he paused momentarily before adjusting himself to be able to drag against it every time he pushed inside and Levi couldn’t stop his helpless gasping.

The pleasure was building into a crescendo inside of him and he reached his hand down again to wrap it around his cock this time, stroking it in time with Eren’s movements against him.

When he finally came he felt his whole body go boneless and he collapsed fully onto the bed as he didn’t have the energy to hold himself up any longer. As he did, Eren appeared to become more feral above him. His teeth released him again, replaced by a loud growl as his thrusts turned faster and more powerful. Then he could feel as Eren suddenly started to swell inside of him, the thrusting growing slower as the drag of the bulge made it harder and harder to continue the movement, until finally with one final thrust he slammed into him and stayed stuck there. When he felt the first burst of semen inside of him he could feel his insides clench tighter automatically and Eren hissed as tried to press even closer.

Levi breathed heavily throughout the whole thing, feeling more full than what he’d probably ever felt before in his life as he Eren’s cock continued to empty itself within him.

“Mine.” Eren’s voice was raspy as he pressed the word against his skin, arms closing around him in something like a hug, trapping him in a tight embrace as he rumbled contently from deep within his chest. He then started to lick up the blood that Levi could feel all along his neck and back and he grimaced at the tacky feeling of it. Some had also run down his chest and he could feel it smeared underneath him on the bed. He didn’t even want to think about that mess yet, or how much of a mess he himself must look.

“I just changed the sheets too,” he murmured to himself, trying to shift his position to make himself more comfortable and feeling breathless as that caused Eren to also shift inside of him and for his knot to press up against his prostate, sending out bolts of pleasure into his body.

“No. Still,” Eren told him, voice low and content as he held Levi down.

“You’re heavy,” he complained but Eren only hummed in response.

“You are strong mate,” he simply said and Levi felt his smile against his back.

He snorted into his pillow.

“Yeah, good try, still want you to move,” he said, poking him in the gut with his elbow.

Even though obviously displeased, Eren still complied, moving of his back and shifting them so that they were lying on their sides instead. He nuzzled into the back of Levi’s head, taking in deep lungful’s before starting to purr in contentedness.

Levi reached his hand around to bury it in Eren’s hair, feeling the soft strands as he lightly scratched him and allowed himself to simply relax and enjoy the closeness and quiet of the moment.

“You don’t happen to know how long you’ll we’ll stay tied together, do you?” He murmured and felt Eren shake his head against his back as he pressed his mouth against his neck and nibbled lightly.

“Hope you don’t mind if I fall asleep on you then,” he said, his eyelids dropping low in exhaustion.

**o0o**

Eren didn’t permit him to leave the bed practically at all the next day, pinning him down over and over again as if to thoroughly stake his claim. Levi let him have it, his body in a near constant state of sore and aching, but enjoying it all the same.

He wasn’t sure exactly what he was doing but he knew that he liked Eren and if he was being honest with himself, he knew that he had in some ways also grown attached to him. Not to mention that it was obvious that Eren had gotten completely attached to him in return and Levi doubted he could simply make him leave by asking, even if he tried.

So in the end, he simply did his best not to overanalyze. There was no point stressing about it, he figured, and the next couple of days passed by quickly as they both explored each other to the fullest.

Levi didn’t even realize how much he had relaxed and lowered his guard until one late afternoon as Eren was in the middle of scent marking him he suddenly stopped and started to growl low in his throat. The sound didn’t cause him to react at first, used as he was to hear it by now. It was only as Eren also tensed up and moved off him that Levi realized that something was wrong.

He was up on his feet in a matter of a second, alert and ready, and it was first then that he heard the sound of footsteps and voices nearing the house from outside.

His eyes flew over to Eren who had moved in front of him, his growling growing louder as the sounds grew closer.

“Shut up,” Levi hissed at him.

When Eren completely ignored him he grabbed a hold around his neck, pushing him to the side.

“Eren, for fuck’s sake, do as I say,” he told him urgently. “You need to hide. Get into the bedroom.”

But Eren only turned around to bare his teeth at him.

“Not leaving,” he hissed back, narrowing his eyes.

“Do not be a goddamn idiot. It’s not me they want,” Levi said angrily shaking his head.

Before he had time to do anything else, he was interrupted by someone pounding on his door and Levi froze.

“Hey, we heard someone in there, we know you’re home.” He recognized the voice of Heiner through the door.

“You stay quiet,” he told Eren sharply in a hushed tone before walking over to the door. Putting his hand on the handle, he looked over at Eren, who still had his teeth bared but at least stayed silent. He didn’t attempt to move though, staying stubbornly where he was and Levi readied himself for disaster as he opened the door.

It opened inwards which meant that Eren was hidden behind it and Levi stepped outside, closing the door half behind him in an attempt to hopefully avoid a confrontation.

“You’re back sooner than I thought,” he told the men. They all looked defeated where they stood facing him on his porch, none of the determination that they had left with still in their eyes. It had been replaced now by only bitterness.

“We found nothing,” Heiner stated miserably. “No trace of that thing anywhere, it was no use to continue. It could be anywhere by now.”

“If it knows what’s best for it it’ll stay away from here though,” Elmer said bitterly, stepping up to shake Levi’s hand.

“But it’s good to see you again,” he said and Levi’s heart contracted in his chest.

He kept his inner thoughts from reflecting on his face and in his voice as he shook Elmer’s hand in greeting.

“Sorry to hear you didn’t get,” Levi said, the words tasting like poison in his mouth. “At least you get to return home now, I’m sure your families have missed you.”

“Actually, we were hoping that you could offer us a warm place to sleep for the night and maybe share a meal with us before we continue home tomorrow morning.”

Levi could feel himself growing cold at the words, his hand tightening where it was still resting on the door handle.

“I sorry, but that won’t be possible,” he replied, keeping his voice calm even as he felt his insides shake.

All of the men looked taken aback by his statement.

“Why ever not?” Elmer asked with a surprised laugh.

“As I said, I’m sorry,” Levi repeated. “If you get going now you should be able to make it to the village around nightfall.”

Heiner frowned at him and Levi noticed how his eyes slid past him and through the gap in the doorway. Observant and suspicious, neither good things.

“Come on now, I know we don’t know either other very well but we’re not asking for much here,” Colter spoke up from behind the others, looking at Levi with a frown on his face. “We’re not here to cause any trouble, just a bit hungry and tired that’s all.”

“I simply don’t like strangers in my house,” Levi told them firmly.

“What exactly are you worried that we’ll do?” Heiner asked him with sharp eyes.

When he didn’t answer Heiner took a step towards him threateningly.

“You’re acting like a fucking asshole, do you know that?”

Elmer came up behind him, putting a calming hand on his shoulder.

“Okay, let’s not start a fight here. He doesn’t need to let us in if he doesn’t want to. Let’s just go.”

Heiner shrugged off his hand and turned to face him. They stared at each other for a couple of seconds before Heiner backed down with a sneer.

“Fine.”

But just as they turned to leave, the sound of something hitting the floor could be heard from inside the house. All of their eyes immediately turned back towards him and the still open door.

“What was that?” Heiner asked with narrowed eyes.

“I don’t know, something must have fallen over I guess,” Levi said evenly.

He begged them in his mind to simply walk away.

“Is there someone else in there?” Before Levi could think to stop him, Heiner had pushed past him and through the doorway into the house.

The moment he heard Heiner inhale sharply, followed by the sound of his machete being drawn, he felt how the world closed in around him. He already knew how this would end. It was inevitable at this point.

Turning, he walked calmly inside, the other men following behind him, meeting Heiner eyes head on as the man looked at him with wild confusion.

“What – What the fuck is that thing doing here?”

He heard the other men swore as they too took out their weapons as they all laid eyes on Eren standing hunched in the middle of his living room, lips drawn back to show off his teeth.

“That’s the chimera isn’t it?” There was panic in Elmer’s voice.

Levi moved himself to stand more in front of Eren, taking a deep breath as he faced them.

“Why is that thing in your house?” Fritz asked him, dagger in his hand pointed towards Levi. He noticed the slight tremor in it.

“I told you to leave,” he said quietly, hardly taking note of Eren coming up at his side and snarling at the men, causing them to recoil.

“You’ve been letting that thing live with you, haven’t you?” Elmer asked in horrified realisation.

“I am really sorry,” he said. “But I’m afraid I won’t let you hurt him.”

“Oh, don’t worry, we would have killed you either way,” Heiner replied, before with a roar of rage charging at him, the machete barely missing him as he twisted out of the way.

Eren beside him attacked with a growl, and Levi saw how he practically tore off Heiner’s entire arm, the machete falling to the ground with a clunk.

The sound of Heiner’s scream of pain turning into a gurgle as Eren sliced through his throat was registered as an afterthought as all his focus turned to the remaining four men.

They appeared half in shock and perhaps conflicted on who to attack first, him or Eren, but then he saw how Colter’s eyes zeroed in on him and he was ready as the man came towards him.

He ducked to avoid the first swipe of his dagger and then barrelled into the man, making them both hit the wall. Colter gasped as the impact caused the air to leave his lungs and Levi used his shocked state to hit him hard just at his wrist, causing him to drop the knife.

Before Colter could then retaliate, Levi punched him hard in the stomach and as he fell to his knees he didn’t even hesitate to break his neck with a twist of his hands.

As he turned he only just had time to take in Eren backed into a corner by Elmer and Bernd before he felt the pain of a blade sinking into his back.

“You fucking bastard, you killed my brother.” Fritz’s voice was shaking with rage and Levi turned towards him, only to be welcomed with another stab in his stomach.

Levi punched him right on the jaw and he staggered backwards, turning back to look at Levi with confusion.

“Why aren’t you dying?” He asked in bewilderment, and then Levi saw how his eyes turned wide as he seemed to come to the realisation.

“You’re not human,” he said breathlessly.

“Quick on the uptake, aren’t you?” Levi responded bitterly. His otherwise probably fatal stab wounds had already stitched themselves back up and he bent down to grab Colter’s discarded dagger and with swift and practised movements sidestepped Fritz panicked attempt to cut him and slit open his throat.

Watching him fall to the floor in a pool of blood, Levi then refocused on Eren who’d already killed one of the two remaining men.

Elmer was the only one still standing, but he was both disarmed and bleeding and as Levi watched, Eren advanced on him and took him down to the floor, claws digging into his stomach, tearing it open, the sound of it accompanied by Elmer’s wretched screams. When he saw Eren also bite down, taking out a huge chunk of his throat, Levi looked away.

At least the screaming ceased.

“Eren, stop,” he said, voice low but clear and firm.

Looking around at the mess around him, dead bodies, blood, his house in shambles, Levi felt deep exhaustion settle into his bones and he sank down to the floor, leaning his back against the couch and just staring up at the ceiling.

He glanced at Eren as he came up to sit beside him.

“You’re upset,” he said, putting his hands on Levi’s chest where he’d been stabbed. His shirt was torn and the white fabric had been coloured red by the blood.

“They hurt you.”

“I’m okay, and that’s not why I’m upset,” Levi said with a sigh.

“You’re mad at me,” Eren said quietly. “Didn’t mean to. Couldn’t think clearly.”

“I know. It’s not your fault, I’m not blaming you,” Levi told him, brushing his fingers through his hair in a sign of affection. This wasn’t anyone’s fault but his own and he knew it.

“Don’t be sad,”

He gave Eren a small smile.

“I’m not sad, I’m just tired,” he answered.

Then he took a deep breath and collected himself. He had a gigantic mess on his hands now and he needed to take care of it.

“We need to get this shit cleaned up,” he told Eren as he pushed himself back onto his feet, “You can help me to bring the bodies out into the woods.”

“Yes,” he replied, and Levi averted his eyes as Eren licked away blood from his teeth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay well, there's only a short epilogue left now which I'll probably have posted relatively soon at least (also, did anyone catch the hints that there was something up with Levi before the reveal? Yes, no, maybe so?)


	4. Epilogue

 “Levi!” Petra greeted him with a wide smile and a warm embrace. “It’s so nice to see you again. It’s been too long. Oluo told me you’d be bringing over salmon for us so I’ve been expecting you.”

“You look well,” Levi told her as he handed over the bundle of fish he had with him.

“Thank you,” she said. “I have to say we’d thought you’d have made it down before this.” She didn’t outright ask but Levi knew that was her way of asking if he was okay

“Had a few things I had to take care of around the house is all, no need to worry,” he reassured her.

“I always worry, but I think that might come with the territory of being a mother,” she said with a small smile as she glanced back to the house where the children were standing in the window waving at them eagerly. Levi raised his hand to give a small wave back and their faces split into broad smiles.

“They were very excited when they found out you’d be staying for dinner,” Petra told him, sounding amused. “They want you to tell them more stories about all the dangerous creatures lurking in the forest,” she added drily and Levi felt a small smile find its way onto his lips.

“Did I overdo it with the whole taking children thing?” He asked.

“Oh no, that was great,” Petra stated, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “They might not always listen to me but with you, that’s another story. They haven’t wandered off alone into the forest since you left.”

“I’ll make sure to tell them about the water witch over dinner then,” he told her with a smile.

“Just don’t scare them too much, I still have to make them fall asleep tonight.” Petra smiled back at him fondly.

“Well, let’s not keep them waiting then, come inside,” she said. “I told Oluo to start with the food but I really don’t trust him not to simply burn everything so we shouldn’t leave him alone in there for too long.”

**o0o**

Levi stayed at their house all throughout the afternoon. He let Petra fill his stomach up with food and the children to surround him with their endless chatter. By the time the sun had almost started its descent it was time for him to leave though, as he still needed to make it too Hange for another delivery of meat.

He bid his goodbyes, some newly made clothes now in his possession courtesy of Petra, and started down the familiar road.

When he got there, he’s for the rare occasion greeted by Hange at the door.

“Well, even Moblit needs to get a day of rest sometimes,” she said in ways of explanation as she lets him in.

“You don’t want me to bring the deer around to the back first?” Levi asked her.

“Just leave it for now, I’ll take care of it later!” She simply answered with a wave of her hand, leading the way into the sitting room, offering him a seat. “Now you must tell me, any news?” She turned to look at him in eagerness.

“About what?” He asked in a drawl, even though he knew exactly what information she was interested in.

“Oh, come on, Levi!” She exclaimed, leaning in towards him, “The men who came to hunt the chimera of course! Any updates?”

He studied her for a moment, before with feigned disinterest looking away.

“Not much to say. They arrived at my house and then left, haven’t seen them since then, and definitely still no signs of the creature.”

“That’s it?” Hange asked disappointingly, visibly deflating.

“What were you expecting?” He asked, leaning back in his seat.

“Something a bit more exciting than that, at least!” She responded, spreading out her arms in a gesture of dejection.

“Sorry to disappoint then,” Levi said with a roll of his eyes.

Hange just sighed deeply and in an almost forlorn manner as she looked to the side, gazing out of the window.

 “Guess it must have actually gotten away then,” she said, sounding almost wistful.

“Hard to say, the men might still be looking for it after all,” Levi said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Well, either way,” she stated, turning back to him, “You should probably report to Erwin while you’re here, he’ll want to know.”

“Already planned on it,” he replied.

**o0o**

It was night by the time he made his way home and the woods around him laid eerily quiet. The moon stood high in the sky, however, and shone brightly down on his path as he walked. It was so familiar to him by now though, that even in complete darkness he’d probably find his way without problems.

As he got about halfway back the skin at his neck began to prickle at the sensation of being followed and watched. Normally this might have caused him to immediately react, but as he already knew who it was he simply calmly continued on.

“If you’re trying to launch a surprise attack I already know you’re there,” he called out into the darkness in amusement.

It was silent for a short moment before Eren appeared between the trees ahead of him.

“Wouldn’t attack,” he said, waiting for Levi to reach him before then falling into step beside him, stroking his body against Levi’s legs in greeting.

“Don’t like you being away,” Eren told him and Levi reached his hand down to burrow his hand in Eren’s hair in affection.

“I know, don’t worry, I won’t have to go into town for some time now,” Levi said. “You still shouldn’t wander too far though, you need to stay away from people.”

“I’m careful,” Eren promised earnestly.

Levi gave him a small smile as he ruffled his hair.

“Good,” he said. “If we’re lucky, this is the end of it. Usually the woods here are always empty of anyone else but me, hopefully it’ll go back to that.”

“Although, guess I don’t mind your company of course,” He added with a wry smile.

Eren turned his head to look up at him.

“Because you’re mine,” he stated.

Levi tilted his head to the side as he regarded him.

“Sure, all yours,” he said finally and Eren’s eyes shone back at him with satisfaction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I know that answers like zero questions so sorry about that lmao. I never had any intentions of this turning into a long multichapter fic so although I have both Eren and Levi's backstory mapped out and clear ideas where this story could go after this, it's probably not something that I'll end up writing. It was meant to end at this point at the start and it's what I plan to stick to (for now at least, can speak for the future). Hope you enjoyed the read tho! 
> 
>  
> 
> [Find me on tumblr](http://ohanimehell.tumblr.com/)


End file.
